Winding yarn



April 11, 41939. v E WHEELER 2,153,784

WINDING YARN Filed Jan. 27, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet l liga Aprl 1l, 1939. v. WHEELER WINDING YARN 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed. Jan. '27, 1937 Puff/'ong .Flgsd d l April 11, 1939. v- E, WHEELER l 2,153,784

WINDING YARN Filed Jan. 27, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 19.6@ Pas/'f/'anE' 46,

INVENTOR /day/. Wh ee/er BY -`4 W ATTORNEYS Patented pr. 1l, 1939 UNITED STATES 'OFFICE WINDING YARN poration of Y Delaware Application January 27, 1937, Serial No. 122,483

7 Claims.

ticularly relevant to that art, albeit purely forY the sake of convenience. It will be apparent to those conversant with textile processes in general, that the principles of my invention are equally applicable in other fields, such as, for example, the preparation of cotton or woolen yarns for package dyeing.

bin process, filaments are formed by expressing a viscous dispersion composed mainly of sodium trithiocarbonate cellulose xanthogenate through orices of the order of magnitude of 0.1 mm. diameter into a suitable coagulating or precipitating bath. In the space of a brief moment the filaments are hardened or set sufficiently to be Withdrawn from the bath. They are wound in groups composed of, say, forty laments, onto hollow `foraminated spools, which shall *hereinafter bealluded to, for brevitys sake, as bobbins.

In winding the viscose rayon on the bobbins, it is customary to distribute the thread by conducting it through a guide which is made to reciprocate adjacent to the rotating bobbin in a plane parallel to the bobbin axis. In the early days of rayon manufacturer before the technique was developed of deacidifying, desulphurizing, washing and drying the yarn directly on vthe bobbins on which the yarn was wound during spinning, it suiiiced to maintain the traverse motion of the reciprocating guide 4only fast enough to prevent the successive convolutions of thread from being superimposed upon each other. This method, still used in textile operations where the lay of the thread is of no particular import, or Where a dense package is desired, is known as parallel winding. The further processing of parallel wound freshly spun rayonnecessitated such costly and cumbersome operations as soaking the bobbins in vats of alkalinized water '(to eliminateV entrained acid) for many days or even several weeks and then drying, twisting and reeling the yarn into hanks in order to enable it to be sub jected to necessary purifying and finishing treat- In the manufacture of viscose rayon by the bob.

ments, such as desulphurizing, bleaching and oiling.

In the course of time, less costly and time-consuming methodsA have beenl evolved, comprising wet processing the freshly spun yarn directly on the bobbins on which it is wound during spinning. To. this end, hollow bobbins having perforatedy walls have been adopted, and the yarn is wound thereon by the quick-traverse method, by which is meant that the rate of reciprocation of the traverse guide with respect to the speed of. rotation of the bobbin is comparatively rapid. Thus the yarn is distributed on the bobbin not as approximately parallel convolutions, but as angular convolutions or spirals. This operation is known as-cross-Winding". By virtue of the reciproca-I tion of the traverse guide under these circumstances,the successive layers of spirals cross one another to form diamond-shaped meshes or interstices--a so-called basket wind". The faster is the rate of reciprocation of the traverse guide with respect to the rate of rotation of the bobbin, the greater is the angularity of the thread helix and hence, the wider are the diamond-shaped interstices. By virtue of the rapid recrossing of the helices, the separate meshes eventually be` come miniature channels as the yarn cake grows in thickness. 'I'hese channels naturally permit liquids to penetrate freely through the yarn cake considered as a whole. By placing a perforated bobbin with rayon wound upon it as abovedescribed in a suitable apparatus, liquids designed to deacidify, desulphurize or wash the threads may be easily forced through the yarn layer either by the exertion of pressure exterior to the bobbin or ofsuction applied to the interior of the bobbin, or a combination of the two. The

basket-wind, in other words, is conducive to improved permeability of the yarn cake.

In modern practice of manufacturing rayon by the bobbin process, it isdesirable for purposes of eciency and economy Ikto wind long yardages of thread during spinning, of the order of half a pound to a pound of yarn per cake, expressed in terms of the finished product. Such long yardages imply thick yarn cakes, which are all the more bulky due to the. quick-traverse cross-wind described above. These thick cakes, however, created two new mechanical problemsfor the rayon manufacturer. The first was due to the tendency of the thread windings at the ends of the bobbins to become displaced during the purification treatment, resulting in frayed, tangled and, very frequenly, broken filaments.- The second was due to the tendency of the yarn package to split into two or even several concentric, annular layers when the dried bobbin was mounted on an upstroke twisting machine spindle, the operating speed of which is generally within the range of 3500 to 6000 R. P. M. Such splitting resulted in sloughing and hence for all practical purposes, virtual ruination of the yarn.

To solve the rst problem it was found expedient to provide means to shorten the traverse stroke progressively as the yarn cake grew in thickness during the spinning period. This produces a yarn cake having tapered ends. To solve the second problem it was found desirable either to resort to the use of ring-twisters (on which the bobbin is not obliged to rotate at all, but which are expensive with respect to initial cost and door space consumption), or to adopt a supplemetary motion in connection with the crosswinding operation whereby the thread layers are overand under-lapped to cause them to interlock one another compactly in their respective initial positions.

Despite the development of mechanical devices to cross-wind firmer, less disruptible yarn pack. ages of long yardages, it was found that the enhanced permeability due to cross-winding did not necessarily imply that contact of the individual threads with the treating liquids or with warm air (for drying) was by any means assured. The fluids, being forced by pressure or suction through the yarn cake, rushed freely through the interstitial channels, but only those portions of the threads forming the linings of the channelsv were assured of intimate contact therewith. The pointsat which the threads cross one another, in particular, tended to receive little or not exposure to the treating liquids or evaporative air. Thus the treatment of the yarn cake as a Whole was non-uniform, and withal expensive, because relatively large volumes of iiuids were forced through the yarn cake to effect a small degree of treatment. Accordingly, it will be understood that a-distinction may be drawn between permeability and washability, which is to say that a cake may be very permeable to washing fluids but will not wash Well because the iiuids pass through channels in the cake, but do not penetrate the cake as a whole.

As a result of my investigations, I have found that if the basket-Wind be scrambled, that is to say, if the meshes in a given cross-wound thread layer is displaced slightly with respect to those of the courses immediately above or beneath, so as to break the continuity of the channels, the permeability of the package will be advantageously somewhat reduced, and at the same time, all portions of the threads will receive efcient and uniform exposure to the fluids that are forced through the cake. The passage of the fluids through the cake will be more of the nature of a diffusion than a mere coursing through channels, and therefore, a relatively small amount of iiuid eiects a sizeable degree of treatment.

It is an object of my invention to provide irnproved means whereby threads may be crosswound in thick packages, characterized by a distribution of the thread such that the cake will possess satisfactory permeability in conjunction with adequate washability, and at thesame time, stability against forces tending to disturb the position of the convolutions at the ends of the package during treatment with uids, or to split the package into c oncentric annular layers during twisting on an upstroke twister.

My invention comprises a mechanism which is to be used ingcombination with the well-known pendulum or oscillating type of traverse, and which produces a secondary traverse motion superimposed upon the primary motion. By virtue of the secondaryl motion, the traverse stroke of the primary motion is alternately shortened and lengthened according to predetermined and controllable timing and ratios. As the result of this combination of motions, a thick yarn package of good permeability and washability can be obtained by judicious choice of gear ratios andinitial setting of cams. In accordance with my invention a superior character of oscillating movement is imparted to a traverse by mounting it on a rocking arm which is driven through a connecting rod mounted on a crank that in turn is driven through a train of oval gears, preferably elliptical in shape, the rst of which is rotated at a substantially uniform Velocity throughout a revolution. The yarn package wound by a traverse oscillated in this manner has superior washability, and does not tend to build up excessively at the ends of the bobbin. Moreover, I have discovered that still further improvement in the AWashability of the yarn package is obtained if the traverse is caused to oscillate in the abovedescribed manner and the length of the traverse stroke is periodically varied. These and other features of my invention will be more clearly understood in the light of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are respectively a diagrammatic side elevation partly in section, a plan, and a partial rear elevation of a preferred form of Winding mechanism of my invention;

Fig'. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 5, 6 and '7 are, respectively, a diagramu matic side elevation partly in section, a plan and a partial rear elevation of a simplified form of the traverse mechanism of my invention.

Figs. 8, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d and 8e are diagrams showing the character of traverse motion obtained with the mechanism of Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 has a conventional foraminous hollow bobbin 20 removably but rigidly mounted on the end of a conventional spindle 2| which is rotatably disposed in a horizontal position in a journal 22 mounted on and projecting through a housing 23. On the spindle within the housing a first spindle driving gear 24 of circular shape is rigidly and concentrically mounted. The gear meshes with a second circular spindle driving gear 25. The latter is rigidly fastened on the end of a horizontally -disposed subsidiary shaft 26, the other end of which carries a rigidly mounted first right angle mitre gear 21. 'I'he subsidiary shaft is rotatably mounted parallel to the spindle in a bearing 28 which may be fastened to the housing by any convenient means (not shown).

The first mitre gear meshes with a second right angle mitre gear 29 that is rigidly mounted on a rotatable drive shaft 30 disposed horizontally at the same elevation as the subsidiary shaft but at right angles thereto. The drive shaft also carries a rigidly mounted oval gear 3|, preferably elliptical in shape, and between the rst elliptical gear and the second mitre gear, the drive shaft passes through a drive shaft bearing 32. The aforementioned oval gear and second mitre gear bear respectivelv against the two end surfaces of the drive shaft bearing to eliminate end play on the drive shaft.

Disposed above the rst oval gear and in contact therewith is a second oval gear 33, preferably elliptical in shape. This second oval gear is rigidly mounted on a horizontal rotatable pin 34 which is carried in a pin bearing 35. The latter is attached to the bearing 32 by a 4conventional retaining. means such as a post 41. The second oval gear carries disk shaped crank 36 mounted on its side. The crank has an eccentrically disposed wrist pin.

'I'he two oval gears are of the same size and shape so that rotation of the first causes rotation of the second. 'I'he gears are mounted so that the major axes of the respective ovalsare substantially at right angles to each other at all times. For best results the wrist pin on the crank 36 should be approximately in line with the major axis of the upper oval gear 33, so that as the pin moves sidewise from the center of the crank 36 its lateral speed is kept more or less constant. In other words, if the crank 36 is rotated at a constant speed the lateral speed of the wrist pin tends to decrease as it moves sidewise. However,4

with the oval gear arrangement which is illustrated, the speed of rotation of the eccentric increases as the Wrist pin moves sidewise, thus introducing compensation.

Disposed directly above the bobbin and at right angles to the spindle is a pivot shaft 31 upon which a rocking arm 38 is hung and is free to swing. The rocking arm terminates in a filament guide 39 such as a conventional ring or pigtail.,

The guide lies at the side of the bobbin at about the level of its axis of rotation. About midway down the rocking arm is mounted a rotatable circular gear 40 which lies with its major surfaces parallel to the swing plane of the rocking arm and carries a second crank with an eccentrically disposed wrist pin or eccentric 42. A circular gear 4| is rotatably mounted on the pivot shaft at the top of the rocking arm in the same plane withv the gear 40, and between the gears 40 and 4| and enmeshed therewith is a circular idler gea'r 42A .which is rotatably mounted on the rocking arm.

are connected by an endless chain 45, which passes through slots in the housing.'

The second sprocket is fastened to an adjacent circular spur gear 48 and turns therewith on the pin 34. The gear 48 meshes with a second circular spur gear 49 which is fastened to the shaft 30.

'Ihe two rotatable cranks 36, 42 fastened respectively on the gear '40 and the upper oval gear 33 are fastened together by a connecting rod 46 through pivoted connections. The connecting rod passes through a slot in the housing.

To understand the operation of the mechanism just described it should be appreciated that the function of the crank 36- (driven by the oval gears) is to cause oscillation of the rocking arm, and that the function of the crank 42 (driven by circular gears) is to change the length of the traverse stroke periodically.

'I'he drive shaft 38 is caused to rotate continuously by a moving means such as an electric the subsidiary shaft and the spindle drive gears, power is transmitted to the spindle and the bobbinl mounted thereon, so that these latter rotate at a speed which is a function of the spindle gear ratio and the speed of the drive shaft. At the same time the drive shaft rotates the lower oval gear at a substantially uniform rate throughout any one revolution. The upper oval gear rides upon the lower gear and is also caused to rotate, but because of the shape of the gearsl the speeds of rotation of the upper oval gear and that of the attached eccentric are not uniform throughout any one revolution.

The rotation of the crank causes the connecting rod to move back and forth, imparting a rocking motion to the rocking arm, so that the traverse oscillates.

Due to the fact that the gear 4| is mounted on the same axis as the rocking arm, the gears 40, 4|, 42A remain in continuous operative engagement. So whether the rocking arm is hanging vertical or swung to either side, the gear 40 upon which the eccentric is mounted is rotated continuously through the gear 42A from the gear 4|, which in turn is rotated continuously by the chain connected sprockets and gears 48, 49 from the drive shaft 30. Instead of the gear train 40,

4|, 42A two belt-connected pulleys or two chainconnected sprockets may be employed to drive the eccentric on the rocking arm, one pulley or sprocket replacing gear 4|, the other replacing gear 40. The term wheel is used hereinafter to include gears, pulleys and sprockets employed for driving the crank on the rocking arm.

For convenience and to insure positivecorrelation of the various moving parts it is best to drive the bobbin and the two cranks which control the traverse motion from the same power source and to maintain fixed ratios of rotation between the bobbin and the two cranks or between any two of these three parts by means of gears or the like. However, it is feasible to employ separate power sources to move the bobbin or the two cranks or any of them. Thus the sprocket or an equivalent pulley could be chain driven or belt driven from a sprocket or pulley mounted on a separate motor, or in fact by being connected direct to such a motor.

Because the crank mounted on the rocking arm serves to change the length of the traverse stroke periodically and hence causes overlapping of alternate layers of yarn wound on the bobbin, the size of the circle of revolution of this crank or, in other words, the distance from the axis of revolution of the crank to the center of the wrist pin should be relatively small and in any case less than the equivalent dimension on the crank driven bythe oval gears. Otherwise an overlap of unnecessarily great width is obtained. In general, when winding yarn into a package of conventional length the diameter of the circle of revolution of the gear driven eccentric on the rocking arm should be less than an inch while the diameter of the circle of revolution of the camdriven eccentric should be about 6 inches.v

There are an infinite number of variations in the pattern in which yarn is wound by the apparatus`v of Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, depending upon the relative size and speed of rotation of the bobbin and the two eccentrics. I have found, however, that a package of high washability (and one which will not slough during washing and is not wound so tightly as to cause difficulties in sub. sequent twisting) may be formed with a bobbin about 4 inches in diameter and 8 inches long in the following way:

The bobbin is made to turn at about half the speed of the drive shaft by making the diameter of the first spindle drive gear twice that of the second spindle drive gear. The crank driven by the oval gears turns at the same speed, i. e. the same number of revolutions in unit time, as the drive shaft because the ratio of the two oval gears is unity. In other words, while the bobbin makes only one revolution the crank driven by the oval gears makes two revolutions. At the same time the ratio of the gears and sprockets which drive the crank on the rocking arm is such that the crank mounted on the rocking arm makes half a revolution while the crank driven by the oval gears makes one revolution.

The traverse motion which results whenv the mechanism is operated in accordance with the foregoing description is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 8, in which the two cranks 36, 42 and the connecting cross arm. 46 are shown in a series of positions assumed by these members throughout a traverse cycle, with crank r36 making two revolutions for every revolution of the crank 42, the rotation of both cranks being clockwise as viewed from the front.

As shown in Fig. 8 the wrist pin of one crank is set at a slightly different angle from the center of the crank than is the wrist pin, to prevent the establishment of a so-called dead-center position of the two cranks.

Now referring to Figs. 8, 8a., 8b, 8c, 8d and 8e it will be seen that the center of crank 36 is stationary while the center of crank 42 is movable. Starting with the cranks in position A, crank 36 rotates half a revolution while crank 42 rotates one quarter revolution (both in a clockwise direction) to position B. This causes the center of crank 42 to move through the stroke A of medium length. As the two cranks continue to rotate in a clockwise direction to position C, the long stroke B is described by the center of crank 42. Subsequent clockwise rotation of the two cranks to position D causes the center of crank 42 to describe stroke C', which is of the same length as stroke A', but displaced laterally therefrom. Rotation of the two cranks from position D to position E causes the center of crank 42 to move through short stroke D. Position A and position E are identical, so that Ithe cycle of traverse strokes is completely shown. Further rotation of the cranks at the same rates will cause a repetition of the same cycle. The yarn follows the same cycle of movement as the center of crank 42 and so is laid on the bobbin in a series of staggered spirals of alternately opposite di-v rection.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, it will be seen that the apparatus illustrated therein is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, except that no crank is provided on the rocking arm for periodically altering the length of stroke of the traverse. The connecting rod 46 is mounted on a pin 50 on the rocking arm about midway between the filament guide and the pivot shaft. The gears 4D, 4|, 42A, the sleeve 41A, the crank 42, the sprockets 43, 44, the endless chain 46, andthe spur gears 48, 49, employed in the apparatus of Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 which drive the crank on the rocking yarn, are eliminated in the apparatus of Figs. 5, 6 and 7. Otherwise the parts of the apparatus of Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are identical with corresponding parts of the apparatus of Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, and are identified by vdue to the crank driven by the oval gears, but the length of traverse stroke is not altered.

The apparatus of Figs. 5, 6 and 7 produces a superior type of basket weave but one which is not as desirable as that produced by the first form of apparatus (illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4) because the overlapping obtained with this latter apparatus tends to prevent sloughing 0f the wound yarn during washing. The improved weave obtained with the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 is believed to be due to the fact that the speed of reciprocation of the traverse is more uniform throughout a stroke than would be the case if crank 36 were driven through circular gears instead of oval gears. The more uniform speed of reciprocation distributes the yarn more evenly along the length of the bobbin and avoids pile-up at its ends.

I claim:

1. In a traverse mechanism the combination which comprises a rocking arm mounted to swing on an axis, a lament guide mounted on the rocking arm remote from the axis, a rotatable first crank mounted on the'rocking arm remote from the axis, means for rotating the first crank, a second rotatable crank mounted at one side of the rocking arm, means for rotating the second crank, and a connecting rod pivoted to the two cranks.

2. In a traverse mechanism the combination which comprises a rocking arm mounted to swing on an axis, a filament guide mounted on the rocking arm remote from the axis, a rotatable first crank mounted on the rocking, arm remote from the axis, a rotatable wheel mounted on the same axis as the rocking arm, means for rotating the wheel, means connecting the wheel and the first crank for rotating said crank in synchronism with the whee1,a second rotatable crank mounted at one side of the rocking arm, means for rotating the second crank, and a connecting rod pvoted to the two cranks.

3. In a traverse mechanism the combination which comprises a rocking arm mounted to swing on an axis, a filament guide mounted on the rocking arm remote from the axis, a first rotatable crank mounted on the rocking arm remote from Athe axis, a first rotatable gear mounted on the same axis as the rocking arm, a second gear fastened to the first crank and rotatably mounted coaxially therewith, an idler gear rotatably mounted on the rocking arm and engaging the first and second gear, a second rotatable crank mounted at one side of the rocking arm, means for rotating the second crank and the first gear, and a connecting rod pivoted to the two cranks.

4. In a traverse mechanism the combination which comprises a rocking arm mounted to swing on an axis, a filament guide mounted on the rocking arm remote from. the axis, a rotatable first crank mounted on the rocking arm remote from the axis, means for rotating the first crank, a second crank rotatably mounted to one side or the rocking arm, a rotatable oval gear fastened to the second crank concentrically therewith, a second oval gear rotatably mounted in operative engagement with the first oval wheel, means for rotating the second oval gear and a connecting rod pivoted to the two cranks.

5. In a traverse mechanism the combination which comprises a rocking arm mounted to swing on an axis, a filament guide mounted on the rocking arm remote from the axis, a rotatable rst crank mounted on the rocking arm remote from the axis, a wheel rotatably mounted on the Y same axis as the rocking arm, means connected tothe wheel and to the rst crank for rotating the two in synchronism, a second rotatable crank disposed to one side of the rocking arm, means for rotating said second crank in synchronism with the wheel and a connecting rod pivoted to the two cranks. 

